Attachment for warp-knitting machines.



T. BRANSON.

ATTACHMENT FOR WARP KNITTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 29. 1909.

976,776. Patented Nov. 22, 1910.

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T. BRANSON. ATTACHMENT FOR WARP KNITTING MACHINES.

APPLiUATION FILED MAY 29, 1909.

Patented Nov. 22, 1910.

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T. BRANSQN. ATTACHMENT FOR WARP KNITTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 29. 1909.

Patented Nov. 22, 1910.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS BRANSON, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T0 SIBSON & STERN, INCORPORATED, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

ATTACHMENT FOR WARP-KNITTING MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented N 22, 1910,

Application filed May 29, 1909. Serial No. 499,142.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS BRANSON, citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Attachments for Warp-Knitting Machines; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in knitting machines of that type commonly known as traverse warp machines, and is more particularly concerned with a crochet stitch attachment for such machines.

In making knitted fabrics having a crocheted edge it has been the practice of the art to knit a warp or purl thread for the purpose of supporting the crocheted edge. In following this practice, however, the thread must be cut and pulled out upon completion of the fabric, this being done usually by girls, and the thread, being useless, is wasted. Moreover, this operation of removing the thread is exceedingly tedious; it requires considerable time, and it constitutes quite an item in the cost of manufacturing the goods.

To overcome the use of a supporting thread of the character above referred to is the primary object of the present invention, to which end it has in contemplation the provision of an attachment for rib knitting machines which may be readily applied thereto without disturbing the general construction thereof, and which, when so applied, effectually supports the crocheted edge, automatically shedding the fabric as the latter is knitted, and saving both in the cost of producing the warp thread hitherto employed and in its removal from the completed fabric.

Other objects will appear as the nature of the improvements is better understood, and to the accomplishment of the several ends in view the invention consists substantially in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the ap ended claims.

While the particular embodiment of the invention illustrated and described herein is believed to be a preferred form thereof, it will be understood that the invention is capable of adaptation in other forms, and the right is accordingly reserved to modify, change or vary the invention as falls within its spirit and scope.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an end elevation of a portion of a rib knitting machine equipped with the hereindescribed invention. Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the attachment, on an enlarged scale, its support and the needle bar and needles only being illustrated for purposes ofclearness. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary front elevation of the attachment. Fig. 5 is a similar plan view thereof.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the frame of a traverse warp knitting machine. The latter is of the usual construction, including a plurality of thread guides 2 carried by a series of plates 8, the latter, in turn, being supported by guide bars 4, which guide bars have the usual lateral reciprocation and oscillatory movement common to machines of this character. Associated with the thread guides 2, and cooperating with the same in the usual manner, are the usual needles 5 carried by the vertically-reciprocatory needle bar 6 arranged in juxtaposition to a face plate 7. As the operating means for the needle bar are those commonly employed, it is unnecessary to illustrate the same herein.

As before premised, the present invention contemplates providing means for support ing the crocheted edge of the fabric as the latter is knitted, in lieu of the ordinary warp or purl thread that hitherto has con stituted such support. To the accomplishment of this end a plurality of bent crochet needles 8 is arranged in proximity to the needles 5, each of said needles 8 having its upper end bent to form an attaching loop 9, and said needles 8 are mounted upon a sup porting bar 10 having a plurality of tapped openings 11 for receiving fastening screws or bolts 12. Through the medium of the latter the needles 8 are held upon the bar 10, and said openings 11 are so arranged that the needles 8 may be adjusted relatively to each other in accordance with the different designs of laces or other fabrics that are being knitted,this enabling the crochet needles to be positioned at different points along the bar 10. It will be observed that the needles 8 project from the supporting bar r a series of bearing eyes 13, which latter receive and are slidably mounted upon guide rods 14c held in fixed position in attaching studs 15, the latter, in turn, being mounted upon a transversely extending angle -iron support 16 that is fixedly connected to the machine frame 1, and in suchproXimity-to the needle bar 6 as to properly sustain the guide bar 10 and its crochet needles 8 in relation to the needles 5. Connected to the. rear edge of the bar 10, and at each end thereof, is an adjusting arm 17 the rear end of which is slotted, as at 18,- to receive an inwardly-extending guide pin 19 that is adjustably held in the slotted end 20 of a rearwardly-extending bent bracket 21 carried by the angle-iron 16. Thus, each end of the supporting bar 10 is effectually heldupon the angle-iron 16, and by reason of the adjustability of the guide pins19, said bar 10 may be inclined at different angles to the angle-iron 16, in accordance with the degree of inclination that it is desiredto impart to the crochet needles 8. The construction just describedprovides a means of raising, lowering and ad usting the positionof the bar 10 and likewise its crochet needles, thereby affecting the style and size of the crocheted edges Itis, of course, necessary that the crochet needles 8 shall have lateral movement-within the machine in relation to the latch needles 5. In some designs of lace and other knitted fabric, the degree of movement of the crochet needles is necessarily greater or less,

and to effect this movement of'the needles 8 the supporting bar 10 is pivotally connected at one end, asat 22, toa connecting link 23, the latter having its outer end in hooked engagement with an adjusting sleeve 24 that is mounted upon the vertical arm of a bellcrank lever 25 carried by a shaft 26, the

sleeve 24 having a fastening screw 27 for holding said sleeve lIl ad usted position upon the lever 25. This lever 25 has at the under side of its horizontal arm a contact' roller 28' that works upon the face of a pattern chain 29, whichchain, in turn, moves upon a pattern wheel 30 carried by a shaft 31. The pattern chain 29 comprises a series of links that vary in height, in order to impart variable movement to the bell-crank lever 25, this being in a manner well known in the art, and thus requiring no further description, but in order to maintain the contact roller 28 in engagement with the pattern chain 29, a spring 32 is employed,

one end of said spring being'connected to crochet needles 8.

the end of the bar 10 opposite to that to which the link 23 is connected, the other end of said spring being attached to the machine frame. Thus, the spring 32 exerts its tension in opposition to the pull of the link 23, and at all times holds the contact roller 28 in engagement with the pattern chain 29. In the operation of the hereindescribed invention, the crochet needles 8 are set in the same relative position as occupied by the purl thread in the previous practice of the art, and the guides 2, carrying the thread, work in conjunction with the latch needles 5 to form a crochet stitch around each of the In the working of the guides 2 the same traverse back and forth along the needles 5, and the crochet needles receive and temporarily hold the thread at the end of the traverse of the thread guides in one direction. As the fabric is knit, it passes downover the face of the plate 7, the crocheted edge being supported by the needles 8 until it reaches the lower points of the latter, whereupon it is automatically shed, and the fabric is ready for the trade.

During the formation of the crochet stitch, the needles 8 are moved laterally in accordance with the movement of the bellcra-nk lever 25, which operates in accordance with the pattern chain 29, the movement of the bell-crank being imparted to the supporting bar 10 to effect longitudinal movement of the latter toward the bell-crank lever, while the spring 82 acts to retract said bar 10. The relative throw or travel of the supporting bar 10 is therefore governed by the relative height of the pattern chain, as the latter moves around the pattern wheel 30. The present invention is applicable to the making of laces, edgings, shawls, nubias, and other kinds of knitted fabrics which 7 have a crocheted edge, and by the use of the invention the employment of the purl thread that hitherto has been used for supporting the crocheted edge is entirely (lispensed with, thus overcoming the objections that have existed to the use of such thread, and effecting a saving in the cost of labor employed for removing the thread after completionlof the fabric.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is

1. In a knitting machine, the combination with the thread guides, and the needles, of means cooperating with the thread guides and the needles for forming the crocheted edge of the fabric and supporting said edge during the knitting of the fabric, and means for causing relative movement between said guides and needles and said forming and supporting means in a' direction transverse to the extent of the needles.

2. In a knitting machine, the combination with the thread guides, and the needles, of

means associated therewith for supporting the crocheted edge of the fabric being knitted, and means for imparting movement to said supporting means in a direction transverse to the extent of the needles.

3. In a knitting machine, the combination with the thread guides, and the needles, of a movable support arranged adjacent to said needles, means carried by said support and upon which the crocheted edge of the fabric being knitted is formed and means for actuating said support in a direction transverse to the extent of the needles.

4. In a knitting machine, the combination with the thread guides, and the needles, of means cooperating with the thread guides and the needles for forming the crocheted edge of the fabric and supporting said edge during the knitting of the fabric, and means for reciprocating said forming and supporting means in a direction transverse to the extent of the needles.

5. In a knitting machine, the combination with the thread guides, and the needles, of a plurality of crochet needles arranged intermediate said guides and the first-mentioned needles, and means for imparting to said crochet needles reciprocatory movement in a direction transverse to the extent of the guides and the first-mentioned needles.

6. In a knitting machine, the combination with the thread guides, and the needles, of a movable support arranged adjacent thereto, a plurality of crochet needles carried by said support and projecting therefrom at a point intermediate said guides and the firstmentioned needles, and means for actuating said support to shift the crochet needles in a direction transverse to the extent of said guides and the first-mentioned needles.

7. In a knitting machine, the combination with the thread guides, and the needles, of a longitudinally reciprocatory support arranged adjacent thereto, a plurality of crochet needles carried by said support and projecting therefrom at a point intermediate said guides and the first-mentioned needles, and means for reciprocating said support to shift the crochet needles in a direction transverse to the extent of said guides and the first-mentioned needles.

8. In a knitting machine, the combination with the thread guides, and the needles, of a longitudinally reciprocated support ar ranged adjacent thereto, a plurality of crochet needles adjustably mounted upon said support and projecting therefrom at a point intermediate said guides and the first-mentioned needles, and means for actuating said support to shift the crochet needles in a direction transverse to the extent of said guides and the first-mentioned needles.

9. In a knitting machine, the combination with the thread guides, and the needles, of a longitudinally reciprocated support arranged adjacent thereto, means for imparting to said support varying degrees of inclination, a plurality of crochet needles carried by said support and projecting there from in the plane of movement of the firstmentioned needles, and means for actuating said support to shift the crochet needles relatively to said guides and the first-mentioned needles.

10. In a traverse warp knitting machine, knitting instruments comprising a row of needles, and thread guides, means to traverse certain of the thread guides back and forth along the needles, and an instrument free at one end to receive and temporarily hold the thread at the end of the traverse 0f the thread guide in one direction, said instrument extending with its free end in the opposite direction to the free end of the needles.

11. In a traverse warp knitting machine, knitting instruments comprising a row of needles, and thread guides, means to traverse certain of the thread guides back and forth along the needles, and an instrument extending across the needles and thence in the plane of the completed fabric, said instrument being free at the end in contact with the fabric to receive and temporarily hold the thread at the end of the traverse of the thread guide in one direction.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS BRANSON.

Witnesses:

GEO. MEOKE, MARY M. SHRIVER. 

